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Drivers left stranded
Page 7
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• Over 600 East European drivers have been left stranded abroad by their employers without money or fuel, says the International Road Transport Union (IRU).
It has hit out at what it describes as "shocking abuses of employment law", demanding tougher local enforcement including roadside checks, and strengthening the rules governing the way transport firms are set up.
Paul Laeremans, president of the IRU, says: "The so-called quality criteria governing who can set up a transport company am a feeble joke, allowing under-qualified, under-financed individuals of uncertain reputation to set up operations which undercut law-abiding hauliers by employing underpaid illegal drivers and forc
ing them to work excessive hours."
Last week 170 truckers from Eastern Europe were left stuck at a customs post in Luxembourg as their Austrian employer ceased trading.
The drivers were employed by a Luxembourg-based affiliate of Austrian road haulage firm Kralowetz, which is currently under investigation following complaints from eight EU countries. It was also revealed that the drivers had been paid illegally, receiving money per kilometre driven, as opposed to a salary.
Both the FTA and the IRU are calling on the European Commission to introduce tougher legislation to protect the rights of non-EU drivers.